Five things to know about the season finale – The Buffalo News

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DETROIT – That's it. Game 82 of a lost season.

The Buffalo Sabers closed a four-month death march since the heyday of November Saturday night at the Little Caesars Arena against the Detroit Red Wings. They have 32-39-10 for 74 points. The best that they can do is 76, a slight improvement over last year 's 62 – point win but a disappointment given pre – season expectations of $ 50. a jump of 25-30 points and, of course, of because of their 17-6-2 start which placed them in first place on November 27th.

The game time is shortly after 19 hours. on MSG and WGR Radio and the beautiful 2-year Detroit Palace brought luck to the Sabers. With a win tonight, Buffalo will have a three-game winning streak in Detroit for the second time in his franchise history, joining a five-game race at Olympia and the Joe Louis Arena from October 25, 1979 to December 12, 1981..

Here are five things to know about the finals:

1. Last call: The Sabers are probably facing significant changes after the season, so you do not know who could be on the team for the last time tonight. Coach Phil Housley is a distinct possibility. It seems to be the same for Jason Pominville. But what about names like Johan Larsson, Zemgus Girgensons or Rasmus Ristolainen? Or the wounded Zach Bogosian, Marco Scandella and Vladimir Sobotka? It may be the same for broadcaster Rick Jeanneret, who said this week that it was going to take a little while before deciding to return to the mic in the fall.

Rick Jeanneret takes months to ask himself if he will be back next season

This could also be the last night on the NHL list of former Sabers sniper, Thomas Vanek, who has missed the Red Wings' last six games because of an injury to l & # 39; abdomen. Like Pominville, he seems to want to play Detroit only to uproot his family, but one wonders if the team will offer him another contract. Curiously, Vanek and Pominville each have 16 goals in what could be their last season at 35 and 36, respectively.

The match between a goalkeeper will be Linus Ullmark (14-14-5, 3.17 / .904) against Jimmy Howard (23-21-5, 3.00 / .910).

2. Lottery balls in the air: Tonight's losing team will finish in 28th place in the overall NHL standings and will have a 9.5% chance of being chosen first place in Tuesday's provisional NHL lottery. If the New York Rangers score a point tonight in Pittsburgh, they will win 26th and the winner of the Sabers-Wings will rank 27th. If the Rangers lose by regulation, the Buffalo-Detroit winner finishes 26th and New York 27th.

What is the difference? Not much really. The team that finishes 27th has a chance of 8.5% first choice while 26th place has 7.5%.

Sabers could have center stage after provisional NHL lottery

3. Last chance of streakingThe Sabers have not won two games in a row since winning in Los Angeles and Arizona on Dec. 11-13. Since then they are 0-11-1 after a win and have lost five straight times. The Sabers are 2-7-1 in their last 10 games, 2-13-2 at 17 and 15-33-8 since the 10-game win that ended November 27.

Since November 28
Top five
Team W-L-O Pts
TBL 44-9-3 91
CGY 36-15-6 78
STL 36-17-6 78
BOS 36-16-5 77
NYI 35-18-5 75
Last five
Team W-L-O Pts
LAK 21-28-8 50
NJD 21-31-6 48
NYR 18-26-12 48
OTT 19-34-3 41
BUF 15-33-8 38

"We want to continue to improve our last two games," said Housley, citing the win in Ottawa and Tuesday's 3-2 loss to Nashville. "We are playing in the right direction, as we wish, I am happy that the guys have gone through a difficult march and have entered the month of April to find things to play and play with pride."

4. Burning Wings: Detroit had won six straight wins and eight of its last nine outings until its 4-1 loss Thursday to Pittsburgh. The series includes his 5-4 overtime win on March 28 in Buffalo. The race was an immediate turnaround after a 1-9-3 stretch and also included the announcement of a two-year contract extension with coach Jeff Blashill. Anthony Mantha (7-7-14) and Tyler Bertuzzi (5-9-14) lead the Wings scoring in the last 10 games, with Bertuzzi scoring the Buffalo extra time winner.

5. In numbers: Jack Eichel (28 goals) and Jeff Skinner (38 goals) are both looking for two-goal evenings to break the deadlines of their career with 30 and 40 goals, respectively, for the first time in their career. Eichel has scored 301 shots on goal this season, the first campaign of 300 throws from a Saber since 1993. But his goal is the lowest of his career with 9.3%. … Dylan Larkin leads Detroit in scoring (32-41-73) and would become the first player to lead the team in all three categories since 1927 when he was holding on. Andreas Athanasiou has 30 goals and could catch him with a big game tonight. Bertuzzi started a four-game, three-point straight streak with victory in Buffalo, a first-ever NHL entry since Keith Tkachuk of St. Louis in 2005-06. Both teams are 12-10 in overtime, Buffalo 7-7 for decisive goals and 5-3 in shootout and Detroit at 9-5 / 3-5. Teams split post-rule decisions this year. The Sabers won in shootings here in November and Detroit in OT in last week at the KeyBank Center. … who survives the second period? The wings are a worst in the NHL minus 33 (100-67), while Buffalo is minus 28 (98-70).

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